Clinton Panel Plans Patients' Bill Of Rights

At the first meeting of the 33-member US Advisory Commission on ConsumerProtection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, the panel began writing a patients' bill of rights, as requested by President Clinton.

The panel, headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, includes doctors, labor union leaders, health maintenance organization executives and a state insurance commissioner. It is due to develop the bill of rights by the fall, with a final report due March 1998. A health policy specialist at the consumer group Consumer Action told the panel that any such document must be legally enforceable and have remedies to guarantee that HMOs and other health plans are held accountable. Several panel members agreed with this, it was reported.

Panel member and subcommittee on consumer rights chairman Peter Thomas said the bill should probably guarantee access to appropriate care and benefits and access to specialists, especially for those with disabilities or chronic conditions. Remedies for any denial of patients' rights are needed, said another panel member.